Touchless flushing systems and methods

Abstract

A touchless actuation system for a toilet includes a touchless sensor, a motor assembly, and a processing circuit. The touchless sensor is located within a closed reservoir of the toilet. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal from the touchless sensor and to detect an object within a detection region based on the signal. The detection region is external to the closed reservoir. The processing circuit is configured to facilitate flushing of the toilet through interaction with the motor assembly when the object is detected.

We claim: 
     
       1. A toilet actuation system for a toilet reservoir comprising:
 a first sensor located within the toilet reservoir and configured to generate a first signal indicative of a first distance to an object within a detection region; 
 a second sensor located within the toilet reservoir and configured to generate a second signal indicative of a second distance to the object within the detection region; and 
 a processing circuit configured to receive the first signal and the second signal and identify a gesture performed by the object detected by both the first sensor and the second sensor at the first distance and the second distance, respectively, and initiate one or more actions for the toilet actuation system based on the gesture, 
 wherein the processing circuit is configured to identify a direction for the gesture performed by the object detected by both the first sensor and the second sensor, 
 wherein when the direction for the gesture is a first direction, the one or more actions includes initiation of a cleaning cycle and when the direction for the gesture is a second gesture in a second direction, the one or more actions includes initiation of a flush. 
 
     
     
       2. The toilet actuation system of  claim 1 , wherein the detection region is external to the toilet reservoir. 
     
     
       3. The toilet actuation system of  claim 2 , wherein the toilet reservoir is formed of vitreous that is opaque. 
     
     
       4. The toilet actuation system of  claim 3 , wherein the first sensor or the second sensor project a field through a surface of the toilet reservoir. 
     
     
       5. The toilet actuation system of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a housing within the toilet reservoir includes the processing circuit. 
 
     
     
       6. The toilet actuation system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a motor assembly configured to perform the one or more actions in response to an instruction from the processing circuit. 
 
     
     
       7. The toilet actuation system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine whether the gesture is closer to the first sensor or the second sensor based on the first distance and the second distance. 
     
     
       8. A method for an actuation system for a toilet, the method comprising:
 receiving a first signal from a first sensor, the first signal indicative of a first distance between an object within a detection region and the first sensor; 
 receiving a second signal from a second sensor indicative of a second distance between the object within the detection region and the second sensor, wherein the first signal and the second signal is projected through a closed reservoir within the toilet including the first sensor and the second sensor; 
 identifying a direction of a gesture performed by a user based on the first distance and the second distance; 
 initiating a cleaning process when the direction of the gesture is a first direction; and 
 initiating a flush action when the direction of the gesture is a second direction. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 determining the direction that the gesture is moving based on the first distance and the second distance. 
 
     
     
       10. A toilet, comprising:
 a closed reservoir including a first sensor and a second sensor; and 
 a housing including a controller configured to receive a first signal from the first sensor indicative of a first distance between an object within a detection region and the first sensor and receive a second signal from the second sensor indicative of a second distance between the object within the detection region and the second sensor, 
 wherein the controller is configured to identify a gesture performed by a user based on the first distance and the second distance and initiate one or more toilet actions based on the gesture, 
 wherein the controller is configured to identify a direction for the gesture performed by the object detected by both the first sensor and the second sensor, 
 wherein when the direction for the gesture is a first direction, the one or more actions includes initiation of a cleaning cycle and when the direction for the gesture is a second gesture in a second direction, the one or more actions includes initiation of a flush. 
 
     
     
       11. The toilet of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a motor assembly configured to perform the one or more actions in response to instruction from the controller. 
 
     
     
       12. The toilet of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a flush valve that is actuated in response to the one or more actions.